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Wisconsin senior TE Jacob Pedersen left Saturday's game against Purdue after suffering a left leg injury.

He will not return. Pedersen did not record a catch during before leaving the game. The senior will likely earn a draftable grade, but he doesn't impress us enough to be mentioned among the top prospects at the position. He does have blocking experience, which could result in a long career as a specialist.

Alabama HC Nick Saban prefers for OC Lane Kiffin to remain with the team through the College Football Playoffs.

Kiffin is reportedly close to being named head coach of Houston. "We're very supportive of Lane in terms of him having an opportunity to be a head coach again after the great job that he did for us," Saban said. "So hopefully [the Houston job] or some other opportunity will work out well for him so he gets the opportunity to be a head coach again." Asked if Kiffin would be with the Tide on Dec. 31 for the Peach Bowl against Washington, Saban said: "I think he'll want to finish the season with us but I can't speak to that right now because we haven't discussed something that is a hypothetical situation to this point. And I'm not going to answer any more questions about hypothetical situations." If the reports are true, we should know of Kiffin's future plans in the next day or two.

We like the fit. The Panthers prefer pro-style quarterbacks and will have an opening under center next year following Nathan Peterman's graduation. Browne was the nation's No. 1 pro-style passer in 2013, per the 247Sports Composite rankings. Last week, Browne announced that he won't stay with the Trojans through their bowl game. Instead, he's turned his attention to the transfer process, which became inevitable after he lost his job to Sam Darnold after three games. A graduate transfer, Browne is eligible to play immediately wherever he winds up.

ESPN's Brett McMurphy passes along that NCAA president Mark Emmert's preference is for an eight-team Playoff.

Emmert would like to see an expanded Playoff in order to allow for all five Power 5 conference champions to be included in the field. Penn State, who won the Big Ten title with a thrilling victory over Wisconsin this past weekend, was left out of the Playoff proceedings in favor of Pac-12 champ Washington on Sunday. Whether Emmert's desire for an expanded Playoff actually leads to an expanded Playoff remains to be seen. The size of the field figures to be discussed in more substantive depth this offseason.

Multiple outlets are reporting that USF has entered negotiations with former Texas HC Charlie Strong to fill their vacant head-coaching position.

With Willie Taggart off to Oregon earlier this week, South Florida has been quick to move forward in their coaching search. Roy Cummings of Florida Football Insiders writes that the Bulls have "zeroed in" on Strong, who was fired by Texas at the end of the season following a 5-7 campaign. Cummings relays that Strong and USF could reach agreement by this weekend.

Former Baylor HC Art Briles is suing three school regents and a vice president for libel.

Per the Associated Press report, Briles is "accusing [the associated parties] of falsely stating he knew of reported assaults and alleged gang rapes by players and didn't report them." In addition, his lawsuit alleges that Baylor officials conspired to prevent him from landing another head-coaching job. The university has yet to issue comment on this lawsuit. Briles was terminated in May as part of an organizational shakeup in response to the school's sexual assault scandal.

Multiple outlets are reporting that Western Michigan and HC P.J. Fleck are nearing agreement on a contract extension.

Contract terms are not yet known, but the Detroit News' Tony Paul hears that he will receive a raise from the $800,000 he is currently making annually. Fleck rowed the Broncos out to a 13-0 record this season and was considered a hot candidate for the coaching carousel, but it appears at this juncture that he will back at Western Michigan come the start of the 2017 season.

Texas A&M junior edge rusher Myles Garrett said that he will not make a decision on the 2017 NFL Draft until after the Texas Bowl.

Texas A&M will be tangoing with Kansas State in the Texas Bowl on December 28, after which Garrett will make his final decision. The 6-foot-5, 260-pound junior told ESPN that the deciding criteria, here, is heavily dependent on his potential landing spot in the draft, saying, "I want to go top three." In a 2016 campaign that has been marred somewhat by ankle woes (he missed three games), Garrett recorded 32 tackles (15.0 for loss), 8.5 sacks and two forced fumbles.

At the introductory press conference for new HC Willie Taggart, Oregon president Michael Schill told him to "go out and find a great defensive coordinator."

Current DC Brady Hoke can't be feeling too comfortable right about now. While Hoke still technically remains on staff following the Ducks' firing of Mark Helfrich, he might not be for long. After turning in a 2015 season the defensive equivalent of a derailed train under then-DC Don Pellum, Oregon turned to former Michigan HC Brady Hoke over the winter. Matters failed to improve much under Hoke's watch. In 2016, Oregon's ranked as the third-worst scoring defense in the country, surrendering 41.42 points on average. Only fellow wet paper towels Cal and Texas Tech were worse in that statistical category.

Former Baylor QB Jarrett Stidham wants to make his transfer decision by Christmas.

Auburn is thought to be the front-runner for Stidham's services. The 6-foot-3, 210-pound gunslinger offered high praise for Tigers OC Rhett Lashlee, saying, "He's a great dude. I've gotten to know him a lot over this semester. Really, really solid dude." Another one of Stidham's dudes would be current Baylor OC Kendal Briles, who could throw an interesting wrench into matters. Said Stidham, who still talks with Briles frequently, " I'm still waiting to see what happens with him and where he might go and just take it into consideration."

"These are always very difficult decisions, but at this time, I believe it is best for our program to have a fresh approach," said HC Hugh Freeze in a released statement. Werner had served faithfully as Ole Miss co-offensive coordinator in each of Freeze's five seasons guiding the Rebel ship. In addition to their termination of Werner, Mississippi also opted to cut ties with recruiting assistant Barney Farrar. Farrar had been placed on administrative leave in November.

It took quite the long, winding road to reach this point. Abey sat at third-string on the depth chart entering the 2016 season. Initial starter Tago Smith tore his ACL in the opener, though, ceding way to Will Worth. Worth went on to put in a phenomenal season before breaking his foot against Temple last Saturday. Enter the 6-foot-2, 218-pound Abey, now. "It's definitely a lot of pressure and a huge responsibility," he said of his first start. "Right now, all I can do is focus on the preparation and make sure my mind is right." In very limited action this year, Abey has rushed for 197 yards (7.6 YPC) and two touchdowns on 26 carries while completing 7-of-13 passes for 104 yards and an 0/2 TD/INT ratio.